1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices, systems, and processes useful as networking devices, and more specifically to powerline networking devices.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Power Line Network Adapters (PLNA) is a recent advance in networking technology that uses a building's AC power wiring and circuits to also transmit data signals between computing devices. Typical PLNA networking is done with a module plugged into a wall electrical outlet and then connecting a USB cable (or other type of interface connection, e.g. Ethernet) to the computer. While this type of solution has had some uses, it is not a well integrated solution for systems shipped with networking and requires several user steps in installing.
Some other types of electrical adapters have previously been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,377 B1 describes a power supply in a personal computer that incorporates a network interface card (NIC). U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,691 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,165 describe AC adapters with power conditioning; APC Corp., of West Kingston, R.I. (among others), offers similar devices on the current market.
Additionally, ethernet routers, hubs, and switches have been commercially available for many years, including powerline routers. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical powerline setup. A modem (DSL or cable, most typically) 12 is connected to the internet 10 and a powerline router 14. The powerline router 14 is plugged into a standard power outlet 16, which is electrically connected to a power circuit 18. A powerline converter 22 is plugged into another outlet 20 on the circuit 18, for example in another room of a building, to which a computing device, e.g. PC 24, is connected via a network connection (wired or wireless).
While presenting some usefulness, this typical arrangement is not very flexible in its configuration, and does not present very robust security options. For example, all computing devices, such as PC 24, connected via powerline converters or adapters 22 to the circuit 18, are on the same network, potentially including computing devices in other buildings (e.g., in a neighboring business or home). Additionally, it is not possible to configure additional networks on the same circuit using prior configurations. Thus, while the typical powerline router 14 may provide some isolation from the internet, it does not provide any isolation from other machines connected to the same power grid, nor does it provide the flexibility to add networks to the power circuit.
While each of the foregoing documents and products proposes solutions to some problems, they do not adequately address security and flexibility problems encountered by users of powerline networks in trying to use powerline technologies.